It's been a little more than eight years since Gürer Aykal last led the El Paso Symphony Orchestra. The conductor had already retired in 2004, but was a last-minute replacement for a potential successor in concerts Jan. 22-23, 2005.

Apparently, the orchestra's conductor emeritus has been missed.

Phones have been ringing off the hook in the run-up to the Turkish maestro's return tonight and Saturday at the Plaza Theatre, a venue that wasn't even open when Aykal was here last.

Ticket sales have been brisk for the season-ending concerts. Cellist Ida Steadman is coming out of retirement to join him. Violinist Michael Goldman held off his own retirement to perform once more with his old friend.

"I wouldn't want to miss playing with him," said Goldman, 74, who first joined the orchestra at age 14 in 1953.

Requests for the 70-year-old maestro's time have far outstripped his availability, leading orchestra officials to add free post-concert public receptions to Aykal's already-cluttered El Paso itinerary.

"I have seen my schedule. It's very hectic, but I love it. I love it," the El Paso Symphony Orchestra's sixth conductor said from New York before his El Paso return.

"I'm going to see all (those people) whom I liked, not only for business, but also for my soul. I am the conductor emeritus ... it means I still belong to El Paso," added Aykal, who has stayed in touch with many of the orchestra's members.

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He certainly belonged to El Paso from 1992 to 2004, when he led the orchestra after four years with the Lubbock Symphony. Aykal proved popular with musicians, audiences and financial supporters here. The city gave him its highest honor, the Conquistador Award, before he left.

"He was very charismatic and a highly skilled musician, a world-class conductor," said the orchestra's Ruth Ellen Jacobson, who worked with Aykal for six years.

"He had the orchestra's respect," she said. "He taught them. The orchestra grew and became better. They loved it. He gave them the confidence to play up."

Aykal, a violinist, led the orchestra to new heights, including tours of Germany in 1996 and Turkey in 2000, where the orchestra combined with his other ensemble, the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra, of which he is now honorary conductor.

The El Paso orchestra recorded albums, backed famous artists, such as Juan Gabriel and the Moody Blues, and became more prominent in the region.

Aykal said the orchestra was good when he arrived. His job was to make it better.

"I had to put them on a different level," he said. "I did change the sound of the El Paso Symphony Orchestra, which was actually not easy. You have to know very well your orchestra players, and you have to know the music."

He rebuilt the sound from the rhythm up, reworking the woodwind section, improving the versatility of the brass and teaching the string players to "bow more effectively" and use their left hands more, he said.

"You had to work and work with your hands, your eyes, singing for them what you want," he said. "Then, of course, they understood. They are capable. They are wonderful musicians."

Goldman said Aykal picked up where he left off at their first rehearsal on Monday.

"He got right down to business (Monday) night. I think we played seven or eight measures, he stopped us and said, 'You must have good rhythm. One more time. One more time,' " Goldman said.

This weekend's program also includes a reunion with pianist Jon Nakamatsu, who performed with the maestro and orchestra Sept. 21-22, 1997, fresh from winning the 10th annual Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

The pianist has a "scratchy memory" of those concerts at the Abraham Chavez Theatre. He does remember the confidence Aykal instilled in him.

"It was one of those situations where so many times you get on stage with a conductor and orchestra and you stress, not just about your performance, but what will happen," he said.

"I felt I would be able to sit back and relax because I knew there was somebody up there who knew actually what was going on, which is not always the case."

He performed Beethoven's second piano concerto then, one of the pieces Nakamatsu played in the Van Cliburn finals. He'll perform the other -- Rachmaninoff's challenging third piano concerto -- this weekend.

"It's a piece you live with throughout your whole life," he said. "Your take on it changes and you keep internalizing aspects of it. There's so much in it, so many details just packed. His score is full of little prizes."

Neither Aykal nor orchestra staff could find the score to the originally announced "Tour/Retour," a piece by UTEP composer-in-residence Joseph Packales, who died in 2008. Aykal replaced it with Resphigi's "Pines of Rome," to complement the Italian composer's previously announced "Ancient Air and Dances."

While the orchestra gears up to announce its seventh conductor -- the successor to Aykal's successor, Sarah Ioannides -- Goldman, the retiring violinist, believes this weekend's concerts will add to the maestro's legacy.

"We all miss him a lot. He brings a lot to the orchestra. Besides really being a fine conductor and teacher, he's a warm individual. It's a special relationship," Goldman said.

Though Aykal retired from El Paso to spend more time in Istanbul with his family, which now includes grandchildren, he's still active professionally, and recently formed an orchestra in Karsiyaka, Turkey.

He's expecting this to be an emotional homecoming with the people who embraced him so warmly.

"It's not an ordinary concert for me to come to El Paso and do it again," Aykal said. "It's extraordinary."

Doug Pullen may be reached at dpullen@elpasotimes.com; 546-6397. Follow him on Twitter @dougpullen and on Facebook at facebook.com/dougpulleneptimes.

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